Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 2 - Rochefort to Pau

Rochefort to Pau

Another big day on Sunday, our second leg through the length of France this time we made sure to feed ourselves with a decent breakfast first. We sat outside overlooking the Charente river harbour enjoying the view and the usual croissant with soft cheeses hams and coffee and us both adding plenty of jam to our yoghurt too. It was great to while away an hour or so chatting about our family lives over the years. I did look at route adjustment options to get us on to our next destination hotel in Pau near the Pyrénées but in the end decided to stick to the route as planned rather than a detour east on the boring autoroute. Our ride started around 10am crossing the Charente toward Saujon with some straight roads riding through the province of Aquitane to the east of Bordeaux. 

Soon we were presented with country farm roads and vineyards all around us crossing over the Dordogne a couple of times once at Libourne, and then later on the D670 at Saint Jean de Blaignac both potential coffee or lunch stops but we were enjoying our ride so much we continued on to cross the Garonne river at Langon stopping for fuel there before enjoying the heavily forested roads in the Gascogne national park. We both agreed today was turning into a great ride, we'd covered a lot of ground in good time and the scenery constantly changing with the climate much warmer as we travelled further south. Just as we were starting to feel hungry and in need of a break we stopped at a nice shaded cafe in the little town of Roquefort just before the bridge on the D626. Being a Sunday we saw plenty of bikers passing through in both directions and both agreed we could easily spend the rest of the afternoon there.

The next section took us along the very straight D934 through forests and farmlands and I swear I heard Rob groan politely as I suggested we might meet Carol Decker today since we were heading T'Pau! It was one of those roads that reminded me of driving in the USA and nice to switch to cruise control and enjoy the scenery while chatting away to Rob on the intercom. Riding into the city of Pau was quite uneventful though we did have a few issues going through the one-way system to our small centrally based Ibis hotel where at check-in I chose the hotel breakfast option and paid access to the secure underground car park. We both shared a good size bay for both bikes. Our short walk into town to find a restaurant had us settle for one on the famous Boulevard des Pyrenees seated right near the road with an excellent view of the sunset across the river valley and a spectacular view of the mountains in the distance. A perfect location after our days ride and good food too, Rob enjoyed his Burger and I had the Entrecôte with frites. We both agreed we were now settling in to the tour well, and looking forward to tomorrows ride up into the mountains. 

Adventure in the Pyrenees - Part 1 - Home to Rochefort

Home to Portsmouth

One Friday afternoon in late June saw myself and Rob meet up at the garage on the A449 to pair intercoms for our ride down to Portsmouth on our first motorcycle tour together in 13 years. Rob was keen to go on tour again and ride that shiny new Triumph Tiger on foreign roads, so by the end of April I had worked out an exciting 10 day adventure departing the UK at the end of June. Neither of us fancied a long two way crossing sitting on a boat in the Bay of Biscay or that horrendous ride along the M25,M26 to/from Folekestone either so we settled on getting a ferry to Brittany with a return from Santander instead. This would give us chance to ride in both countries and pick out some interesting routes with the central Pyrénées being the main attraction since i'd never yet ridden there and always wanted to ride that famous N-260. Watch the short video or read on to find out more ..

We were soon up and over Birdlip Hill with a single stop just south of Marlborough at Choppers Cafe for jam on toast followed by a very pleasant Summers ride through Winchester and in to the South Downs countryside. It was good to get some rider observation in on the way too with intercom analysis of hazards and positioning since Rob is looking to take his advanced rider test soon so all good practice. I had prepared the daily routes in advance to suit our choice of navigation e.g. phone based using the MRA navigator app as well as routes downloaded to my trusty BMW Navigator 6. Our Ferry departed heading for St Malo at 8pm we had plenty of time to get there refuel near the port, get through passport control and ride onto the ferry with plenty of other bikers. A bit of an odd bike tie down on the ship 'Bretagne' this time, right next to railings by the ramp which made it quite awkward to get access to my pannier so I had to unload first before pushing the bike close in to the rail and we both cautiously chose to use spare seat pads to protect the panniers in-case the boat rocked the bike on to the rail. We soon found our shared cosy two berth cabin and settled in for the night crossing after a very good evening buffet meal in the a la carte restaurant. At last after all of the planning we were well underway!

St Malo to Rochefort

A calm night aboard the Bretagne and we docked around 8am on Saturday disembarking the ferry around 9.30am with us upsetting the middle-aged men in lycra (MAMIL) cyclists by cutting in front of them before passport control, much to my amusement as you could tell they weren't all that happy. Play 'em at their own game I thought! (he he). We both chose to have breakfast on the road but unfortunately our idea of finding a local patisserie or cafe came unstuck for a while when I got all mixed up with road sign options - was it Dinan or Dinard? It was a while since I'd plotted the route to take us next to the Chateau so I started to question the GPS directions. We took the road to Dinan regardless, but couldn't find a suitable cafe to park so a few laps around the town and losing each other around the one way system.  At least the intercoms were helping us stay in touch. Eventually we parked up on the outskirts and sat outside a nice cafe enjoying our croissant and coffee before taking off in the direction of Paimpont and Pipriac via the department roads. Our plan was to skirt around the big cities avoiding the autoroute until picking it up later in the day south of Nantes.

A nice morning through Brittany and some of its pretty villages before arriving in Couëron around lunchtime just in time to embark the small river ferry that crosses the Loire. Even better it was free and much more interesting than heading inland to cross the big by-pass bridge around Rennes. By now the weather had brightened up warming us up after a cool drizzly start to the day. On the other side of the Loire we stopped to refuel in a nice little riverside town of Le Pellerin but unfortunately with what is the madness that are French Cafes, Bars and Restaurants closing at lunchtime (this caught me and Mark out last year too) we were forced to make do with a Snickers bar and bag of crisps from the local Intermarche (supermarket)! Not ideal given the distances we were covering, and for a while we were concerned we had covered only a third of the days distance until I remembered the afternoon would put us on the autoroute just south of the river. After riding through a very flat nature reserve near Pont-Saint-Martin, and then along narrow farm lanes we joined the A83 slightly north of where I'd originally planned for about 60 miles or so on the toll road and exited near Saint-Jean-de-Beugné.

In the late afternoon we were riding along some of the best roads of the day quietly cruising the D37 crossing rivers and canals in the Charente department and then south via the D112 and D5 before finally rolling in to Rochefort around 6.30pm. Just when you think it’s all gone well yet tired hot and hungry, the road across to our hotel via a lift bridge over the marina basin seemed to be stuck in the up-right position. Somehow we missed the lighted diversion sign and I swear it wasn't lit the first time we arrived in to town so this meant we were riding around in circles trying to figure out how to get across town. In the end we found the diversion but the next challenge was to find the hotel itself. Tonight we were staying at Hotel Residence Arsenal but neither of us could figure out where its entrance was and how to get inside. Being a historical site with limited signage the nearby buildings seemed inaccessible too with heavy iron gates. Rob stayed in a car park with the bikes and in the end after a long walk I discovered how to gain entrance and after a brief tour of the facilities including explanation that we were staying in a one time food store for Louis XIV French Navy I concluded that the high security could only be there to keep English bikers and French peasants from stealing food! We both had a very nice suite each, perfect after the long ride and reasonably priced too. Fortunately for us as it was getting quite late so we soon met and headed to a very nice restaurant set under arches for a few beers and nice bruschetta style pizza to review a long tiring but mostly enjoyable day on our first leg ride through France.

Let’s just go for a Ride!

A long awaited post having been away in the Southern Hemisphere for most of March on an extended Holiday with the Mrs, and catching up with work activities on my return so It’s good to be out and about on the bike again with dry weather after all of that awful rain earlier in the year. It was my second year riding through the Winter months. I usually mothball the bike through each Winter but since being an active member of the local IAM group (KAB) I’ve found myself out most Sunday’s and my GS is holding up well. I do have to keep on top of the cleaning and check for road-salt corrosion though. I’m not a great fan of spending a fortune on cans of ACF and other wax treatments, I just don’t like the ‘faff’ of applying it and then having all of the grime stick to it then trying to get rid of it in the Spring so a good wash after each ride and a good dry using a pet drier is more than sufficient, but I will admit the cleaning ritual does get a bit tedious each week.  

Top Pic .. L to R, Me, Steve and Rob. Bottom Pics .. Steve with his  DB11. 

Ron Brett (2nd) , Gloria (5th), Me (6th), Pogs (7th), Steve (9th), Rob (10th), Gary (12th).

Back in early May myself and Rob arranged a ride down to Burford to meet up with Steve who I hadn’t seen since May 2022 and Rob hadn’t seen since 2011. I arranged Rob’s presence as a surprise for Steve, where we met up in the usual cafe on the High Street. I think Steve was quite shocked and pleased to see Rob, and we were able to reminisce over those HOG Brettours trips meeting up for the first time way back in 2007 (pictured). Recently we learned that Ron Brett has decided that 2024 would be his final year running organised tours and although it’s been a few years since we joined him (Rob sold his Harley and devoted his time to other activities, I traded the Low Rider for my first GS and Steve chose to tour with his BMW instead) we agree we had some great trips with Ron and wish him well in his retirement. Sadly too Steve has sold his BMW K1200GT choosing to focus his passion on his Aston Martin DB11 and other cars in his collection, but I noticed he did arrive wearing a very nice pair of ‘Portillo Trousers’ so maybe ‘Trains’ feature nowadays despite his hellish experience on Scottish rail over Christmas, but fortunately Steve has kept his Harley Softail Deuce, the very bike he was riding back when we all met all those years ago. You never know there maybe one more chance for the ‘Sausage Club’ to ride again if only to commemorate that fateful June day and our final assault of ‘Biffins Bridge’.

Some of the KAB Sunday rides have been fun too, and now I can join them on ‘free rides’, still keeping my hand in riding to the ‘system’ and enjoying the company of others at various cafes and interesting routes out into Hereford and Wales mostly. It’s been fun catching up with Rob as he gets back into biking again who is clearly enjoying the Triumph Tiger and I’m pleased his IAM associate training is of value getting help from other KAB members / Observers too.

Here’s one for the ‘techies’ .. recently I’ve been researching my tour/adventure option for this year and got to wondering how it would be possible to avoid creating pre-planned GPX file routes before setting off from home. I’d like to plot a route on ‘my-route-app’ via my iPhone at any time while away on tour and download the created route to my GPS unit. I’m not so keen on using a phone as a navigation device especially since I have the Garmin based BMW Navigator VI but the one downside is you must use a PC or Laptop to transfer the route file across and since I don’t carry a Laptop or Tablet on tour how could I do this allowing me to create ad-hoc routes while on tour? Since the Navigator won’t allow Bluetooth or WiFi transfers from my phone I came up with an ingenious solution to achieve this using the following:

• A Raspberry Pi 4 configured to use Ethernet over USB C OTG (on the go).
• A USB C Hub connected to the iPhone via a cheap USB C to Lightning adapter.
• USB C to the Pi 4’s USB C combined data and power using a standard USB C cable.
• The Navigator powered and connected to the Pi using standard USB.
• A USB power bank to supply remote power for the Pi and the Navigator via the USB C hub.
• A secure copy (SSH/SCP) client app for the phone (Termius) for GPX file transfer.

I’m now able to transfer the GPX file from the phone across to the Navigators gpx folder without requiring a PC/Laptop or WiFi connection. I did have to buy the USB C to Apple Lightning adapter to connect the hub to the phone, I already have a Pi 4 and a spare USB C hub available to me (the most expensive items). There is a bit of Linux configuration work to set the Raspbian OS (Linux) up for USB C OTG (On the Go) and to auto mount the Navigator file system, but a good explanation of how to configure most of this can be found here or on other sites. I’m sure this setup would work for other GPS units and phone combinations too, and easy enough to pack away in my panniers/tank bag. 

Winter Rides

Into February now and my first post of 2024 with the worst of Winter behind us thankfully and warmer days to look forward to now - can’t wait! That said, I have been out riding most weekends on free rides with Kidderminster Advanced Bikers and with Tim and Chris for a most enjoyable Boxing Day ride in Herefordshire up to Ludlow cafe. A bit chilly and the roads were flooded in parts but good to be out to blow the cobwebs away after the Christmas festivities. 

Tim has one of those Insta 360 cameras with a GPS attachment and I do like the resolution. It fascinates me how the AI stitched video masks out the camera boom, and the clarity of image and sound is far better than my GoPro. Click on these images to run Tim’s videos, a ride around the Alps with this camera set up would be amazing. You can just see Chris as pillion behind him too.

Over the Christmas break I received a surprise message from Rob, my old Harley ‘mukka’ from years ago. We toured together on our Harley Sportsters with HOG Brettours as featured in some of my older blog posts back with Steve and Jeromy too - the old ‘Slipper club’ we had a lot of fun on those trips we both recall with amusement from time to time in messages.  Due to work and family commitments along with other interests Rob sold his Harley back around 2010, so I was bowled over when Rob sent me a picture of his new Triumph Tiger 660 just bought and was awaiting collection. We arranged a meet and ride for last weekend and headed off up to Church Stoke Cafe and later Shobdon Aerodrome for an overdue ride and catch up.  

Rob pictured here with his shiny new Tiger, fitted with panniers wearing his new RST touring suit he’s ready and raring to go for some new adventures it seems. We had a nice Sunday ride, despite the cold weather it was great to catch up at last and chat about our families and how our kids have grown up now and what they are doing with their lives. That Tiger is a real nice bike, the build quality and lines of the sporty 660 triple make it a great package and Rob was having a lot of fun and looked comfortable riding it. I have to say you wouldn’t know he hasn’t owned a bike in 12 or 13 years it was a pleasure to ride with him again, I look forward to meeting up again soon in warmer weather and I must take him down in to the Cotsowlds for a meet up with Steve, thats going to be a lot of fun!  

My other bike related activities this Winter include attending the Kidderminster Advanced Bikers AGM where I’ve decided to get a bit involved in some of the activities going on and attempt to spread the word of the good work they and IAM are doing in helping bikers improve their riding skills and roadcraft. Such a great friendly club of like-minded people, so if you are local to Kidderminster and fancy learning some new skills drop in on KAB and request a taster ride via the website here.

Roll on Spring, and warmer rides. In the meantime don’t forget to listen to Adventure Rider Radio podcasts. I really enjoy listening in on some of the episodes where there are some great skills based discussions as well as some guests who have been on some fascinating adventures world wide. Ride Safe !

Shiny new machines !

Another great day out at Motorcycle Live on Saturday, a welcome Birthday treat from my son Will, we both enjoy spending what would otherwise be a boring rainy November day looking at the shiny new machines instead and visiting the exhibitor stands while hunting out a few bargains to spend my birthday money on. 

Most of the usual manufacturers were there, but surprisingly no Harley Davidson stand this year but the big news was always going to be the new BMW R1300 GS. I’d seen many of the launch videos last month so time to see it in the flesh and make my own mind up about that weird looking headlight. A few other bikes did take our fancy though, for me I really do like the retro Kawasaki 900 RS cafe racer. I think as a second bike it would be a lot of fun on a sunny day. I was out yesterday on a club ride and coincidentally the exact same model pulled up next to my bike at the Cafe in Herefordshire, so kudos to the owner who took on those wet mud splattering roads!     

The ‘Kwaka’ aside this Norton V4sv won the retro racer category for us though. Just look at the build quality. Beautiful! The Norton’s latest re-incarnation of the famous marque is better than ever. I didn’t get to see the price tag, I think it was an ‘ask’ list on the spec’ sheet and enquire but with all of that carbon fibre and nickel coating it’s going to be top-end of the price bracket. A 1200cc 185 bhp machine I think I’d go for this over the Panigales for sure (in my dreams). 

I did quite like this new Triumph Tiger Rallye Pro, the 900 model, but some oddities do amaze me with this CFMoto NX I think it was with what looks like a re-purposed Amazon Kindle used for the clocks, and just seems like a cost saving exercise to me, but having said that the KTM 790 based Chinese model is really good value. So on to the BMW stand to see the new GS and we watched the demo ride on the new Rallye model by two guys from the BMW Off-Road Skills school doing donuts, burn outs and the jump demonstrating braking control in the very limited space. We were introduced to the low speed auto suspension height adjust feature designed to lower the centre of gravity and no doubt to assist riders with a shorter leg flat foot their stops. The suspension adjust has far more fine-grained manual control now and as well as the bigger motor the frame has been stiffened up too and the whole bike has lost some weight. I’m still unsure about aesthetics of that new headlight and radar plate on the front though, but having looked around the different model options now and listened to the presentation interview with the chief designer I look forward to a proper test ride - in a year or two of course!

After the demo we signed the waiver and entered the arena for a closer look. I got to sit on one and start the engine and play around with the settings, and we both took part in the ‘pick the bike up’ challenge. I put my back out picking up one of my GS’s in the past, so the technique taught by the instructor using full lock and pushing up in the direction of the front wheel made much lighter work of it - without panniers though. Of course Will was much better at it than me, he got the technique straight away and quite pleased with himself  in showing me how to do it. I really was quite proud and impressed considering the state of his arm after having a rod fitted through his humerus after that Snowboarding accident last February. 

Of course Will was more interested in the ZZR Ninja H2 and the BMW M1000 RR sports bikes, who can blame him? I grabbed a few bargains from some of the accessory stands on the way out, and stopped by a visit to the ABR stand where the young lady twisted my arm into attending their Rally next June at Ragley Hall with a 20% discount voucher, and I bought their 2024 calendar. Time to head back home to eat our 20% off M&S Chinese meal washed down with a nice drop of cider. A really good day out … Cheers Will 👍😁.

 

Advanced Rider…a thinking rider !

Last month I put in for my IAM Advanced Rider Test, an observed ride by a retired Police Rider/Trainer over in Warwickshire on a test route unfamiliar to me designed for the examiner to gain good insight and assessment of my ride. It was a very challenging 75 minutes, with a pre-ride talk beforehand and a post ride de-brief detailing the examiners observations with additional questions after. After some initial nerves at first, I settled in to the test well and really enjoyed demonstrating my new found skills and ability as taught on the IAM Advanced Rider Course. I’m now very happy to report I achieved a Pass, taking me from IAM Associate status to Full Membership. 

Over the last 12 months my assigned Observer Patrick (Kidderminster Advanced Bikers) has been a great help on many Sundays and at other times to offer excellent advice with regular run-sheet reports and video footage coaching me on where I could make improvement as laid out in the course. Other ride Observers from KAB helped too with additional advice given to gauge my ride consistency, and increase my overall knowledge and skill level.

As mentioned in previous posts I found the course quite challenging at times. My test pass was a second attempt, the first back in June though disappointing did make me realise I needed to be more consistent in applying what I’d learned. When I started the course my overall awareness of hazards needed improving, rear observation was minimal, and overtakes were often untidy and unsystematic without sufficient planning. The first test highlighted a few of these areas where my ride was still not quite up to standard, but thankfully Patrick and Derek (KAB Chief Observer) worked with me over the summer months to get me there. The IPSGA system as used by the Police and taught by IAM, RoSPA and BikeSafe really does require a much more heightened level of concentration than I was used to.

A goal of IAM and Kidderminster Advanced Bikers (KAB) has always been to make us more of a ‘Thinking Rider’ at all times, and maintain that going forward. I now feel much more at ease riding to the system with much better hazard awareness and understanding of how to mitigate for potential dangers. It’s well understood that achieving an Advanced Level of riding has to be maintained though, and because I found the whole learning experience enjoyable I intend to meet up with other KAB members and friends on the ‘free rides’ days in the future to help improve further and continue. It really has been a lot of fun so why wouldn’t I ?

Recently I found it interesting to recall that way back in 1982 I managed to pass the old RAC Star Rider course to Silver standard while riding my first ever motorcycle a Suzuki GP 100. Back then I wanted to challenge myself further and try for Star Rider Gold (an early form of an Advanced Rider qualification) but alas the years passed by and despite attending an excellent BikeSafe course in 2008, I never got around to achieving that level until now. Forty years on from my Star Rider Silver pass there is evidence no matter what your riding is like you can still learn and improve, gain more skills and maintain or revise those skills that are often lost over time through complacency, with the added benefit of learning while having fun and making new friends along the way! 

Many thanks to Patrick, Derek and the rest of KAB for all of their help. 😎🙏

Late Summer fun

 A few rides over the Summer most notably a ride out to Hay on Wye then on to Llangorse Lake near the Brecons. Nice ride managed to dodge the rain. Not a lot else to say really! 

After work one night I went for a ride out with Tim to one of the Cotswold Bike nights in Gloucester. Great atmosphere!